When it rains, it pours. This time, though, the #Droughtlander showers were welcome indeed as we finally learned more details about Outlander‘s upcoming season 3. Not only did Entertainment Weekly drop a cover story with some hints of what’s coming, but Starz announced the casting of adult Fergus.
The only cloud in this welcome storm? Nell Hudson, aka Laoghaire — perhaps the most hated character in Outlander — making a potential Twitter oops by posting a photo that showed her last name during a table-read, prompting some in the fandom to cry foul. What it prompted me to do is make a list of scenes I really don’t want Ron D. Moore et al to put into Season 3. Hint: she’s number one.
But before we get to that spoilery stuff, let’s celebrate the raindrops EW tossed our way.
Oops wrong EW cover. 🙂 Here’s this year’s cover.
While it’s voyeuristic delicious to revisit last year’s cover, what a difference a year can make in terms of the Outlander “message” Starz has decided to sell to EW. We’ve moved from sex and Clamie and talks about kilty pleasure (which by the way they decidedly did NOT deliver on in Season 2!) to focusing on the evolution of Jamie — the King of Men. The man who gave the love of his life and his bairn-in-the-womb to another man to care for quite literally is the Great Scot. Oh and the partially bare chest ain’t bad either.
The season also apparently, EW editor Lynette Rice says in an EW teaser video, will likely start on Culloden Moor, splitting time perhaps with Claire’s new life sans Jamie in the 20th century. While the book doesn’t do this, it makes sense for Moore to take this approach with the TV show. TV-only viewers need to get a sense of what happens in the battle. And even book purists are going to love seeing Black Jack Randall potentially get his. I mean, who among us hasn’t dreamed of being the one holding the sword at one time or another? Nail him for us, Jamie!
Also haunting is this image of Claire, walking ghost-like on what appears to be Culloden Moor. Potentially brilliant move, Ron D. Moore. We will have to see how it plays out.
Rice also says that the article will reveal a bit about how the show will focus on Claire’s life with Frank in the 20th century. Even TV-only fans know that Jamie and Claire are separated. The question is for how long? Season 2 ends with Claire saying, “I have to go back.”
Our two-fer day of Outlander happiness came with the news that adult Fergus has been cast. Cesar Domboy, who was seen in The Walk and The Borgias, is filling some tough shoes. Romann Berrux was wonderful as young Fergus. But adult Fergus is a pivotal role, especially if Outlander goes beyond four seasons. (You did all cross your fingers just then, right?)
The darker cloud on a day of basically good Outlander news came on Twitter. We are now going into spoiler area. Read on at your own peril, TV-only fans. We’re going to talk about things that book readers know. Consider yourself warned.
I’m spacing this out to give you more time to bail if you need to. This is the last warning.
Okay.
While I fully understand that TV is a different medium than books — blah blah blah — there are certain things that I am very nervous about regarding Season 3 and Moore’s thoughts about what makes a good TV story. Laoghaire’s little oopsy Twitter post did nothing to settle my uneasiness about the storyline that has me hyperventilating the most. Here’s her post:
That’s right. It’s her married name — which we book readers know happens. But here is my hyperventilating, keep-me-up-at-night, maybe-I-need-to-get-a-life worry: that Moore makes a bigger deal of this “marriage” than it actually warrants. That he builds suspense for TV-land purposes and makes this marriage of convenience seem as if Jamie actually cares a fig for this woman, that he marries Laoghaire because he has some feelings rather than the reality — which is that he’s hoodwinked into this by Jenny (not one of her more redeeming moments by the by) and because he’s just desperately lonely and basically doesn’t really care whether he lives or dies but, since he is alive, he might as well help this pathetic widow and her children. Because as we know in the book that is PRECISELY why he marries Laoghaire. It is NOT a big deal once Claire returns. The only issue when Claire returns is that Jamie doesn’t tell her and she finds out in a shocking way.
That said, Claire leaving Jamie in a fit of anger lasts exactly three chapters — and they’re not long ones either. If Moore plays this out and makes Laoghaire actually seem important to Jamie and makes it a bigger rift between Jamie and Claire than it really is, I will be screaming at the TV. Consider yourselves warned.
Which leads me to another scene I really don’t need to see in Season 3: Claire and Frank having sex. In fact, I really don’t need to see much of Frank at all. What I would love would be for Moore to simply have that scene where they have that big argument that seals the deal about what a philandering jerk Frank is, after which he storms out the door and dies in the car crash. That’s really all we need to see of their lives together. 20 minutes max. Seriously. We do not need an entire episode of them. We don’t. Please please please. I’m begging you, Ron. Get us to the print shop as soon as you can. The suspense of #Droughtlander is separation enough.
What do you think of the season 3 information we’ve gotten so far based on the Entertainment Weekly article? Are you as worried about Laogharie and Jamie storyline as I am? Are there other parts of Season 3 you’re worried about?
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